Event #46: $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em

The latest bracelet winner has been crowned at the 2022 World Series of Poker in Event #46: $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em. From the time the final table began at 3:00 p.m. PT, Jonathan Pastore had a steady climb to the top to come out victorious and become the latest WSOP bracelet winner.

There was a total of 920 players that started the tournament with a total prize pool of $4,243,500 which paid out 138 places. The money bubble was paid out towards the end of Day 2 with many big names taking home a piece of the pot including Dmitry Yurasov ($8,053), Daniel Negreanu ($8,807), Norbert Szecsi ($10,874), Anthony Zinno ($21,597) and Robert Mizrachi ($40,855).

2022 WSOP Event #46: $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Results

Winners Reaction

This is Pastore's first WSOP bracelet and the biggest cash of his career. He almost didn't play the event because there were a few other ones he wanted to play, but ultimately decided that it was such a prestigious one that he might as well just give it a try.

When talking to PokerNews, the energy surrounding Pastore was electric with many friends on the rails.

"Having all of my friends on the rail really helped me. We are a big group of friends and poker players who live in Malta and came to play the World Series. Coming from the amateur poker circles in France, with all my friends around me, I feel I mixed those two worlds today and it's beautiful."

"Having all of my friends on the rail really helped me."

Pastore was in the top 10 chip counts at the end of Day 2. Throughout Day 3, he had some ups and downs but steadily climbed throughout the day, making it to the final table with the third-highest chip stack before they bagged for the night. Stephen Song was the chip leader at the end of Day 3, finishing with half of the chips in play and it was he who Pastore beat in heads-up play to come out on top.

"I got into some tough spots against him yesterday but today was really easy for me. The beginning of the final table was difficult but everything went well after and today I didn't have any tough spots."

He only had good things to say about his opponent and felt honored to get to play heads-up with him.

"Playing against Stephen Song heads-up was really a great feeling. He is a player I admire and I wish we had more players like him in the poker community."

When asked what was next for him about more WSOP events and just plans for his winnings, Pastore said: "I want to stay focused and keep playing all the events that were on my schedule. For my winnings, I want to invest money and not really start playing much higher buy-ins. I also really want to study mixed games to play a lot of those events next year so I'll work on that and keep playing online a lot."

Final Day Recap

The sixth-place finisher for this event was Patrick Sekinger who was knocked out by Tamer Alkamli in the final hand of the night on Day 3.

The remaining five players returned today and resumed play at 3:00 p.m. PT. It wasn't long before Pastore eliminated Greece's Paraskevas Tsokaridis in fifth place, taking home $167,882 and the cantaloupe he brought with him.

American Elio Fox was the next man down in fourth place after a preflop all in that ended with Stephen Song hitting a full house to knock him out.

Three-handed play continued for a while before Canadian, Tamer Alkamli, who was short stacked, got it all in against Pastore in a coin flip that had Pastore coming out on top, sending Alkamli out in third.

The final hand had Pastore with three-quarters of the chips facing off against Song who was aggressively betting each street before getting the last of it all in on the river. Pastore tanked before calling with a pair of queens and caught Song with a five-high bluff and he ran to his rail who went wild with his victory.

After a 650,000 open from Jonathan Pastore on the button, Stephen Song three-bet to 2,100,000. Pastore called and they saw a flop.

    fell and Song continued for 900,000 which was called by the in-position Pastore.

A   turn didn't slow Song down. He lead for 2,500,000 this time. Pastore once again put in the chips for a call.

On the   river, Song then paused for a minute or so before moving all in for his last 4,275,000. Pastore went into the tank, before deciding to call. Song flipped over    and Pastore tabled the    for a pair and he burst out into elation with his joyous rail.

Jonathan Pastore	46,500,000	12,500,000
Stephen Song	0	-12,000,000

Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce owes a poker home game host $180,000, according to a lawsuit filed, but is allegedly refusing to pay it back.

Stephen Carmona, per TMZ Sports, claims he hosted a private game at his house on January 27 and invited the NBA Hall of Famer, who is an avid but recreational poker player. He apparently gave Pierce a $150,000 loan to enter the high-stakes game with the promise of paying it back within seven days.

The lawsuit states that the retired basketball star only returned $10,000 of that money and then borrowed another $40,000 from Carmona to compete in a different game, but allegedly hasn't paid back any of that either. Pierce reportedly made around $200 million in salary and endorsement deals during his 17-year NBA career.

Read more on PokerNews

After Jonathan Pastore opened for 700,000, Stephen Song made the call from the big blind.

Song check raised Pastore's continuation bet of 500,000 to 1,500,000 on the     flop and Pastore made the call.

When the   turn came in, now Song slowed down checking to Pastore, who fired 1,500,000. Song called.

A seemingly blank   completed the board and Song now checked to Pastore who made it 5,200,000. Song ended up making the call and Pastore showed    for a turned flush.

Jonathan Pastore	31,000,000	4,850,000
Stephen Song	15,000,000	-5,175,000

Jonathan Pastore who has had a steady climb in chips since the day started went heads-up against Canada's Tamer Alkamli. Pastore moved all in from the small blind and Alkamli, in the big blind called with just under 3,000,000 in chips.

Tamer Alkamli:   
Jonathan Pastore:   

The flop came down     and Alkamli's rail cheered in support for his ace-high to hold up. On the turn was a   giving Pastore a pair and the   river offered no help for Alkamli to keep him in the game.

Jonathan Pastore	26,150,000	1,150,000
Stephen Song	20,175,000	875,000
Tamer Alkamli	0	-2,200,000

After a raise from the button from Stephen Song of 500,000, Jonathan Pastore raised to 2,000,000. Tamer Alkamli folded his big blind and Song called.

On the     flop, Pastore continued for 1,300,000 and Song called.

When the   turn came in, Pastore continued again for 2,500,000 and Song let it his hand go.

Jonathan Pastore	25,000,000	3,500,000
Stephen Song	19,300,000	-3,200,000
Tamer Alkamli	2,200,000	-260,000

Cheating allegations haven't kept Ali Imsirovic away from the 2022 World Series of Poker, but an unfortunate river card on Thursday night sent him packing in Event #50: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em.

Imsirovic wasn't the only accused cheater to compete in the six-figure buy-in tournament. Jake Schindler and Bryn Kenney also came ready to compete for a shot at winning millions of dollars and a gold bracelet.

Find out all details here!

After Greek player Paraskevas Tsokaridis moved 850,000 of his 1,100,000 stack into the middle under-the-gun, Jonathan Pastore called from the small blind and Tamer Alkamli called from the big blind.

On the     flop, Tsokaridis moved all in after Alkamli checked. Pastore then raised to 700,000 and Alkamli folded. Cards were tabled.

Paraskevas Tsokaridis:   
Jonathan Pastore:   

Tsokaridis was drawing to running quads and didn't improve against the set of Pastore, eliminating Tsokaridis in fifth for $167,882.

Stephen Song	21,000,000	0
Jonathan Pastore	17,000,000	2,200,000
Tamer Alkamli	6,200,000	-800,000
Elio Fox	3,500,000	0
Paraskevas Tsokaridis	0	-1,000,000

Stephen Song raised to 500,000 from the small blind and Elio Fox on the button called. The flop came down    , Song threw out a 7,000,000 bet, covering Fox, which he called.

Elio Fox:   
Stephen Song:   

Fox was ahead with top pair over Song's bottom pair. The turn came a   and a   on the river, and Fox got the double up.

Stephen Song	21,000,000	-2,700,000
Jonathan Pastore	11,400,000	25,000
Tamer Alkamli	7,000,000	0
Elio Fox	6,800,000	3,800,000
Paraskevas Tsokaridis	1,000,000	-500,000

After Tamer Alkamli opened from the cutoff for 475,000, Stephen Song three-bet to 2,200,000. Alkamli then moved all in for around 7,600,000 and Song called.

It was an anti-climatic showdown as Song and Alkamli had the same hand. Song's    against the    of Alkamli.

The board ran out       for a chop.

Stephen Song	24,000,000	1,000,000
Tamer Alkamli	7,800,000	-910,000